Cleverly

A Cold Start and A Warm End

Cleverly was freezing.

The snow came halfway up her calves. Her cheeks were numb from the cold wind and it was becoming hard to breathe. Her boots were filled with snow and her socks were soaked. She didn't think she'd ever feel her toes again.

It wasn't nearly this cold when Cleverly had walked out an hour and a half ago for Care of Magical Creatures class. No one had anticipated it to be this cold. In April.

Her other classmates struggled in front of her, complaining under their breath. Their robes flowing behind them in the wind.

Reaching the courtyard, people broke into a run, or at least tried to run.

Almost there, she thought following suit. Huffing and puffing and almost falling down, Cleverly kept to a brisk walk. It was too hard to run in this deep of snow. The only thing that kept Cleverly going was the thought of taking a nice warm bath.

Entering the castle, warmth blew against her face. She put down her hood revealing her long apricot colored hair. She stomped the snow off her shoes as she began the journey up to the Gryffindor common room. Hopefully it dries before Filch finds it there, she thought, referring to the mix of mud and snow on the ground.

The halls weren't that crowded seeing as Professor Grubbly-Plank's watch froze in the freezing temperature and it was impossible to hear the bell with the roaring wind. Everyone was probably already to their common rooms or to the library for the afternoon. Cleverly must have been the last one in her class to get inside because no one entered after her. Thank goodness that that was her last class for the day.

Her footsteps echoed in the quiet hall, occasionally passing a few students.

"Felix Felicis," Cleverly said in small voice to the Fat Lady.

"Correct," and the portrait swung open.

The common room was crowded. People were messing around and talking. Cleverly noticed her friend Athalie sitting with a few other people. She waved to her. Athalie stood up and walked over to Cleverly.

Cleverly always was jealous of Athalie. She had lots of friends, she was pretty, and smart. Everything she wasn't.

"Woah, were you outside?" Athalie questioned noticing some snow still stuck to her robe.

"Yeah, Care of Magical Creatures," she replied.

"I can't believe you're still taking that class," Athalie commented, brushing her curly hair off her shoulder and placing her hand on her hip.

"No, what I really need to do is take a nice warm bath. If you'll excuse me..." Cleverly said walking towards the girls dormitory staircase. Care of Magical Creatures was one of her favorite classes. She wasn't going to just drop it. 

"See you," Athalie replied heading back to her seat and joining in on the conversation she left.

Cleverly climbed the winding staircase all the way to the top and walked in the seventh year girls dormitory. She took off her robe and dug out some fresh clothes from her trunk. The wind was deafening against the window. It only seemed to be getting worse.

Entering the bathroom, Cleverly turned on the light. She put down her clothes and turned on the water to a blazing hot. She had to unfreeze her toes and fingers. Waiting for the tub to fill, she turned to look in the mirror.

Cleverly hated her appearance. Right now she thought she looked horrid. Her cheeks were still red from the cold. Her hair was an atrocious mess from the wind. There was always something wrong with her.
Her freckled face turned bright red when she was embarrassed which happened at least twice a week.

What Cleverly didn't see was that she had a diamond shaped face and a prominent chin that fit all of her features well. She had emerald green eyes that gleamed when she talked about something she loved. Her lashes were light, like the color of her hair. Her eyebrows were lightly colored and set perfectly aligned with the rest of her face. She had a narrow nose with light freckles going across it and onto her cheeks. Her hair was long and straight with waves going throughout. It's orange color shone in the light. If one were to touch it, they would be surprised by its soft and luxurious texture. Cleverly was skinny, with long legs and an average height for her age. She wasn't gangly or awkward, everything about her worked well together.

Looking in the mirror she saw none of that. Instead she saw a cold, tired, unfortunate looking girl with acne across her face and crooked teeth.

Turning away from the mirror, Cleverly turned one of the handles on the tub and out dispensed a purple colored soap that smelled of lilac. It was her favorite kind. Bubbles immediately filled the large bathtub.

She stepped in slowly. First putting in her tiptoe until eventually her whole body was surrounded by the warm water.

She sighed. It felt so good. Cleverly leaned back against the edge of the tub. Only the tips of her hair was getting wet.

Then her mind began to wander.

What am I going to do? she thought. There was less than two months left of the term. Less than two months left till she finished her years at Hogwarts forever. She had no idea where she would live or what she for sure would do with her life.

Her parents had left Cleverly when she was a baby and she had spent all of her young years at Saint Joesoph's, an orphanage in London. When she got her Hogwarts letter she only spent her summers at the orphanage.

Now that she was eighteen she couldn't go back there. When she left last fall, they granted her with a little bit of money to get her through until she got a decent job. In order to get all of her Hogwarts supplies these past seven years she had used what Hogwarts gave her her first year. There was hardly any of that left. Her parents didn't leave her any money behind for her. Cleverly didn't even know if she was a pureblood, halfblood or a muggleborn. There was no way of knowing.

I will probably just get a job at the Ministry, she thought, soaking in the bubbles. Although a job that meant sitting at a desk did not interest her anymore. It doesn't matter if I don't like it, I just need something to live off of. I'll figure it out, she thought. Cleverly really did not want to think of this kind of thing right now. I still have time.

And she did. For now.